The cartoonist, Lynda Barry, contends that most adults suffer from “play amnesia.” Living in these dark times, many overlook play...
Do You Suffer From Play Amnesia?
The cartoonist, Lynda Barry, contends that most adults suffer from “play amnesia.” Living in these dark times, many overlook play as a valuable resource to diffuse stress and lighten one’s mood. For example, when your news [...]
Pat Taub
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Missing Meaningful Connections?
I feel sad and misunderstood among family and friends who dismiss my deep despair over the genocide in Gaza. Several friends are down in the dumps over their disconnections with adult children, who hold grudges against them, or who simply don’t make time for them. Thousands of Americans are angry over Trump’s cuts to essential living benefits, [...]
Pat Taub
It All Comes Down to Kindness
It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than ‘try to be a little kinder.’ –Aldous Huxley In 2025, kindness is in short supply. The mind-numbing genocide in Gaza is in its 15th month. Trump’s appointments [...]
Pat Taub
Moving Out of My Funk
I was in a week long funk brought on by the starvation in Gaza, procrastination over filing my taxes, and a stalled writing project. As I sat brooding, a little voice whispered that I should visit the Portland Art Museum. As an art lover and modest collector, I often find art museums restorative. Fresh out of other ideas, I obeyed that [...]
Pat Taub
Gardening Up To The End
GUEST POST by LISA SAVAGE Around where I live people grow food starting in earnest this time of the year. No matter what our religion or political persuasion, once the soil is warm and dry enough, we all of us poke in some seeds. Some years it rains so often that the seeds fail to germinate and instead rot in the ground. It’s not great [...]
Pat Taub
Then The Line Went Dead
GUEST POST by MICHAEL STEINMAN A self-confessed dinosaur, I have always liked telephone conversations, especially the old-fashioned kind: two friends, one (me) on a landline, perhaps drinking tea, leisurely describing events but more endearingly, feelings. The telephone handset made possible the kinds of intimacy one might be shy of having [...]
Pat Taub
Good News, A Caring Community, Home Altar, Tulips & More!
Good News at Last A peace treaty was signed between the Ukraine and Russia. Biden has scaled back his military budget to provide money for universal health care. Cities across the country are pledging to shift from fossil fuels to green energy. APRIL FOOLS! If only I weren’t playing a joke but reporting on what actually transpired. [...]
Pat Taub